It will be the third Patriot system Berlin has supplied to Kyiv. AP
It will be the third Patriot system Berlin has supplied to Kyiv. AP
It will be the third Patriot system Berlin has supplied to Kyiv. AP
It will be the third Patriot system Berlin has supplied to Kyiv. AP

Germany to send additional Patriot air defence system to Ukraine


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Germany has said it will send an additional Patriot air defence system to Ukraine to bolster its hard-pressed military and help it fend off increased Russian aerial attacks.

“Russian terror against Ukrainian cities and the country's infrastructure is causing immeasurable suffering,” said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, announcing the move.

“It is jeopardising people's energy supply and destroying the operational readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces.”

It will be the third Patriot system Berlin has supplied to Kyiv, with the Defence Ministry saying the decision was taken at the request of the Ukrainian government and in co-ordination with allies.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke by phone to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, reaffirming his “unwavering solidarity with Ukraine in the face of massive and ongoing Russian air strikes, particularly on civilian energy infrastructure”, a German government spokesman said.

As well as discussing Germany's delivery of a new Patriot system, Mr Scholz and Mr Zelenskyy agreed that “further efforts by partners are also required” to boost Ukraine's air defence, the spokesman said.

Mr Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app that he had had “a productive conversation” with Mr Scholz. “I call on all other leaders of partner states to follow this example,” he said.

The announcement comes as Ukraine struggles on the battlefield against Moscow's forces, hobbled by a lack of foreign aid, as well as a shortage of men and ammunition.

Russia has been stepping up aerial attacks on Ukraine. On Thursday Moscow pounded the country's energy facilities, destroying a power station in the Kyiv region.

Ukraine's army chief said on Saturday the situation on the eastern front had worsened in recent days as fighting raged for control of a village west of the devastated city of Bakhmut.

The statement by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi more than two years since Russia's invasion reflected the grim mood in Kyiv as vital US military aid that Ukraine expected to receive months ago remains stuck in Congress.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks on the phone to Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in Kyiv on Saturday. Reuters
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks on the phone to Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in Kyiv on Saturday. Reuters

Col Gen Syrskyi said he travelled to the area to stabilise the front as Russian assault groups using tanks and armoured personnel carriers took advantage of dry, warm weather that has made it easier to manoeuvre.

“The situation on the eastern front in recent days has grown considerably more tense. This is linked primarily to the significant activisation of offensive action by the enemy after the presidential elections in Russia,” Col Gen Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram app.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had captured Pervomaiske, a village to the south also in Ukraine's Donetsk region where Moscow has focused its offensive operations for months.

Moscow said its troops had improved their tactical position on the front line there after capturing the village 8km south-west of occupied Avdiivka. Kyiv did not immediately comment on the status of Pervomaiske.

After the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, Germany dropped a traditionally pacifist stance and has become Kyiv's second-biggest supplier of military aid, after the US.

  • Ukrainian rescuers at the site of a rocket attack on a residential building in Dnipro, south-eastern Ukraine. EPA
    Ukrainian rescuers at the site of a rocket attack on a residential building in Dnipro, south-eastern Ukraine. EPA
  • Rescues carry a person wounded by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro. Reuters
    Rescues carry a person wounded by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro. Reuters
  • Rescuers tackle a blaze at a building struck by Russian bombs, in Dnipro. AP
    Rescuers tackle a blaze at a building struck by Russian bombs, in Dnipro. AP
  • An apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro. Reuters
    An apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro. Reuters
  • Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions near the town of Kupyansk, Kharkiv Region. AFP
    Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions near the town of Kupyansk, Kharkiv Region. AFP
  • A building destroyed by a Russian air strike in the front-line town of Orikhiv. AP
    A building destroyed by a Russian air strike in the front-line town of Orikhiv. AP
  • A dog stands on the rubble as rescuers work at the site of a destroyed building during a Russian missile strike in Chernihiv. Reuters
    A dog stands on the rubble as rescuers work at the site of a destroyed building during a Russian missile strike in Chernihiv. Reuters
  • A Ukrainian serviceman works on an FPV drone in a workshop in the Donetsk region. Reuters
    A Ukrainian serviceman works on an FPV drone in a workshop in the Donetsk region. Reuters
  • Local resident Kateryna, 77-years-old, walks with a litter of puppies, which she feeds in the yard of her bomb-damaged apartment block in the town of Kurakhove. AFP
    Local resident Kateryna, 77-years-old, walks with a litter of puppies, which she feeds in the yard of her bomb-damaged apartment block in the town of Kurakhove. AFP
  • Ukrainian rescuers at the scene of a missile strike near a residential building, in Zaporizhzhia. EPA
    Ukrainian rescuers at the scene of a missile strike near a residential building, in Zaporizhzhia. EPA
  • A woman looks at the damage in her flat after debris from a missile strike hit nearby, in Kyiv. EPA
    A woman looks at the damage in her flat after debris from a missile strike hit nearby, in Kyiv. EPA
  • Ukrainian firefighters at the scene of a missile strike in Kyiv. EPA
    Ukrainian firefighters at the scene of a missile strike in Kyiv. EPA
  • Ukrainian servicemen take part in military training at an undisclosed location near the frontline. EPA
    Ukrainian servicemen take part in military training at an undisclosed location near the frontline. EPA
  • Ukrainian troops run near the site of a rocket attack on an industrial building, in Kharkiv. EPA
    Ukrainian troops run near the site of a rocket attack on an industrial building, in Kharkiv. EPA
  • A pilot operates a drone at a training ground in the Kyiv region. AFP
    A pilot operates a drone at a training ground in the Kyiv region. AFP
  • Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are depicted in a tug-of-war on a memorial in Izium, Kharkiv region. AP
    Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are depicted in a tug-of-war on a memorial in Izium, Kharkiv region. AP
  • A man looks at his home in a damaged apartment building in Izium, Kharkiv. AP
    A man looks at his home in a damaged apartment building in Izium, Kharkiv. AP
  • Ukrainian civilian women are trained to use weapons, in Kyiv. AFP
    Ukrainian civilian women are trained to use weapons, in Kyiv. AFP
  • A Ukrainian soldier mans a position as new recruits receive training at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region. EPA
    A Ukrainian soldier mans a position as new recruits receive training at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region. EPA
  • A man pays tribute at a makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers, at the Independence Square in Kyiv. AFP
    A man pays tribute at a makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers, at the Independence Square in Kyiv. AFP
  • An emergency worker at the scene of a Russian attack in Odesa. AP
    An emergency worker at the scene of a Russian attack in Odesa. AP
  • Ukrainian recruits are trained by members of the Danish military, in the east of England. AP
    Ukrainian recruits are trained by members of the Danish military, in the east of England. AP
  • Danylo, commander of an engineering and sapper company of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, inspects pyramidal anti-tank obstacles known as 'dragon's teeth' before installing them into a new fortification line in Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters
    Danylo, commander of an engineering and sapper company of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, inspects pyramidal anti-tank obstacles known as 'dragon's teeth' before installing them into a new fortification line in Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters

However, a key package of US aid for Kyiv has been held up due to political squabbling in Congress.

As well as Patriots, Berlin has supplied a wide array of other armaments, ranging from artillery to armoured fighting vehicles.

The Defence Ministry said the handover of the new Patriot system from German military stocks would begin immediately.

Despite Germany delivering billions of euros of military supplies to Ukraine, Mr Scholz has come under fire in recent months for refusing to allow the supply of long-range Taurus missiles.

Germany fears the missiles could be used to hit targets deep within Russia.

UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match

The biog

Marital status: Separated with two young daughters

Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo

Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian

Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness

Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon

French Touch

Carla Bruni

(Verve)

The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
The biog

Siblings: five brothers and one sister

Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota

Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym

Favourite place: UAE

Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera

What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books

Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners

Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta​​​​​​​
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)

Company%20profile
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The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry

Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm

Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

WHAT FANS WILL LOVE ABOUT RUSSIA

FANS WILL LOVE
Uber is ridiculously cheap and, as Diego Saez discovered, mush safer. A 45-minute taxi from Pulova airport to Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospect can cost as little as 500 roubles (Dh30).

FANS WILL LOATHE
Uber policy in Russia is that they can start the fare as soon as they arrive at the pick-up point — and oftentimes they start it even before arriving, or worse never arrive yet charge you anyway.

FANS WILL LOVE
It’s amazing how active Russians are on social media and your accounts will surge should you post while in the country. Throw in a few Cyrillic hashtags and watch your account numbers rocket.

FANS WILL LOATHE
With cold soups, bland dumplings and dried fish, Russian cuisine is not to everybody’s tastebuds.  Fortunately, there are plenty Georgian restaurants to choose from, which are both excellent and economical.

FANS WILL LOVE
The World Cup will take place during St Petersburg's White Nights Festival, which means perpetual daylight in a city that genuinely never sleeps. (Think toddlers walking the streets with their grandmothers at 4am.)

FANS WILL LOATHE
The walk from Krestovsky Ostrov metro station to Saint Petersburg Arena on a rainy day makes you wonder why some of the $1.7 billion was not spent on a weather-protected walkway.

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

Company%20profile
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Three tips from La Perle's performers

1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.

2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.

3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.

Gulf Men's League final

Dubai Hurricanes 24-12 Abu Dhabi Harlequins

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

'My Son'

Director: Christian Carion

Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis

Rating: 2/5

Where%20the%20Crawdads%20Sing
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOlivia%20Newman%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Daisy%20Edgar-Jones%2C%20Taylor%20John%20Smith%2C%20Harris%20Dickinson%2C%20David%20Strathairn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Andor
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tony%20Gilroy%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDiego%20Luna%2C%20Genevieve%20O'Reilly%2C%20Alex%20Ferns%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%205%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
12%20restaurants%20opening%20at%20the%20hotel%20this%20month
%3Cp%3EAriana%E2%80%99s%20Persian%20Kitchen%3Cbr%3EDinner%20by%20Heston%20Blumenthal%3Cbr%3EEstiatorio%20Milos%3Cbr%3EHouse%20of%20Desserts%3Cbr%3EJaleo%20by%20Jose%20Andres%3Cbr%3ELa%20Mar%3Cbr%3ELing%20Ling%3Cbr%3ELittle%20Venice%20Cake%20Company%3Cbr%3EMalibu%2090265%3Cbr%3ENobu%20by%20the%20Beach%3Cbr%3EResonance%20by%20Heston%20Blumenthal%3Cbr%3EThe%20Royal%20Tearoom%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

Turkish Ladies

Various artists, Sony Music Turkey 

The biog

Name: Atheja Ali Busaibah

Date of birth: 15 November, 1951

Favourite books: Ihsan Abdel Quddous books, such as “The Sun will Never Set”

Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E640hp%20at%206%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E850Nm%20from%202%2C300-4%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E11.9L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh749%2C800%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Messi at the Copa America

2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final

2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals

2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final

2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final

CREW
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERajesh%20A%20Krishnan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETabu%2C%20Kareena%20Kapoor%20Khan%2C%20Kriti%20Sanon%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Fatherland

Kele Okereke

(BMG)

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Avatar%20(2009)
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Updated: April 14, 2024, 8:41 AM